AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi says lockdown 'unplanned and unconstitutional'

Hyderabad: Describing the ongoing lockdown to contain the spread of coronavirus across the country as "unplanned and hasty decision," AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Tuesday said States have to be authorised to make decisions on whether to continue it or not.

Slamming the BJP-led government at the Centre as being responsible for the plight of migrant labourers, the Hyderabad MP said the guest workers should have been sent back home in March last week when the COVID-19 cases were less in number and the virus was less virulent.

"I have been consistently criticising the lockdown because it is unconstitutional. If you read the Constitution, under the state's list, the states are responsible for law and order. The government of India and the Modi government violate the seventh schedule of the Constitution. They cannot use the National Disaster Management Act to dictate to the state governments. It is very unfortunate why the chief ministers accept this unconstitutional diktat of the Modi government," Owaisi told reporters.

He said officials sitting in the national capital do not know what is good or bad for states.

"It is for the states to decide when the lockdown should be implemented when it should be lifted, what should be closed and what should not be closed. An officer sitting in South Block or North Block will not know what is happening in Hyderabad. What is good for Telangana? And what is bad for Telangana," he said.

The AIMIM leader alleged that because of unplanned decisions of the Modi government, the economy was in the doldrums.

On the standoff between Indian and Chinese troops in the Pangong Tso area in eastern Ladakh, the MP questioned the "silence" of the government on the matter and demanded that it take the country into confidence.

"On behalf of the Government of India, there was a statement from the Defence minister that they are engaged in a dialogue with China. We want to ask what you are talking about with them...take the country into confidence," Owaisi demanded.

Troops of India and China were engaged in a major standoff for over three weeks in Pangong Tso, Galwan Valley, Demchok and Daulat Beg Oldie in eastern Ladakh, in what is turning out to be the biggest confrontation between the two countries after the Doklam episode in 2017.

The government has been maintaining that talks at military and diplomatic levels are on to resolve the row.

Military officials have asserted that Indian troops are also resorting to aggressive posturing in eastern Ladakh and equally building up its presence in the sensitive region.